A Taste for Vinegar

There are lots of flavors I like and appreciate. Many that I actually love. But I never really thought about how much I love vinegar until B pointed it out to me. I think I was eating salt and vinegar flavored potato chips when he said “boy, you really love vinegar, don’t you?”

To be entirely honest, I had never thought about it. In fact, I never even realized it. I really do love vinegar.

• My favorite flavor of potato chips? Salt & vinegar.

• My favorite topping on one of my most favorite foods, French fries? Malt vinegar.

• My favorite condiment? Mustard (made from vinegar).

• My favorite salad dressing? Vinegar based Italian.

• My favorite kind of cookout side dish? Classic cole slaw.

• My favorite cocktail? Dirty vodka martini.

If you open up my refrigerator right now, you will find pickles, olives and pepperoncini (Italian style vinegar cured hot peppers – I eat them by the bowlful, literally). If you open up my cabinet you will find white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, malt vinegar, balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar and red wine vinegar (and a bag of salt and vinegar potato chips). A quick search of the internet enlightened me to the existence of beer, honey and coconut vinegar. Where can I get my hands on those?

Now I'm going to start saying things like "it's good, but it could use a little acid" when I taste foods.

On my kitchen counter right now is a jar of vinegar with garlic, rosemary and thyme. Yes, I am experimenting with homemade flavored vinegar. Happy holidays everyone. (Truth be told, I think the herb infused olive oil is going to turn out better than the vinegar, but we’ll see. This is why I start my experimenting in the spring.)

So, while there is nothing shameful about a love of vinegar, it is a new realization for me. And clearly, I had absolutely nothing else to write about.

Time to break into that bag of chips...